THEY are the letters written with boyish charm and an unnerving sense of adventure by a 16-year-old sailor that detail the single most devastating naval battle of World War I.

It’s 100 years since her father fought in the Battle of Jutland but when Sarah Coats reads the accounts he penned from his British warship just days after the conflict, she can still scarcely believe he made it home.

Sarah’s dad – who later became Admiral Sir Mark Pizey – was just a teenager on board HMS Revenge when he witnessed the horrors of the epic battle, which raged for 36 hours from May 31 to June 1, 1916, off the Danish coast near Jutland.

“It’s terrifying to think that at only 16, my dad was caught up in the worst naval conflict of World War I. Every time I read his words, I realise just how brave he must have been and how lucky he was to survive.”

In the letter to his Aunt Milly, dated June 17, 1916, Mark wrote: “We really had an exciting time on the 31st and the early part of the 1st of June.

Mark meeting the King later in his Navy career

“They thought at home the Revenge was not in the fight but I soon assured them that she was and not only that but in the thick of it too.

“The most dangerous things that were to be avoided were torpedoes as they were plentiful. We avoided quite eight.”

Mark, who spent 46 years in the Navy, goes on to describe the night-time engagement.

He wrote: “The night action was also very interesting as one minute you would see a beam of light from a searchlight and then about six flashes and after a few seconds one would see perhaps a huge blaze, that of a ship being hit.”

Proof, perhaps, that he was perhaps hiding the worst of what he witnessed from his family comes in the line: “It was all very dramatic but some parts were awful to relate.”

When the sea battle broke out, Britain had been at war for nearly two years.

Its Grand Fleet were anchored at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, while the German High Seas Fleet had stayed in their own ports.

The gun turrets on HMS Revenge

But, in May 1916, a new British intelligence unit cracked German codes and caught their fleet 75 miles off the Danish coast. The Grand Fleet moved in and the fighting began.

There were so many casualties, both sides claimed victory but the verdict was that the German navy lost as they were never put to sea again in the Great War, unlike the British navy who remained a powerful force.

Mark – who was born in Somerset in 1899 and passed away there in 1993, aged 93 – agreed it was a British win.

In a letter days after the battle, he wrote to his father, the Reverend Charles Pizey. He said: “Whatever the damages we sustained, I am positive the German losses were miles more. The whole of our Grand Fleet were, as you know, ready to put to sea again two days after, which proves a lot.”

The admiral’s bravery and stoicism in the 1916 battle were qualities that would stay with him throughout the rest of his distinguished career.

Sarah, who spent her childhood travelling all round the world, is extremely proud of her father.

She said: “During World War II, my father was a captain, in command of HMS Campbell and a flotilla of destroyers in the Channel. He also played a key part in organising the Arctic convoys to Russia.

“After the war, he worked in Australia before becoming commander-in-chief of the Royal Indian Navy.

“His last appointment was as commander-in-chief Plymouth and in 1958, he retired.

“But even in retirement he was still busy, taking on the role of Deputy Lieutenant for Somerset.”

Proud: Sarah Coats

Admiral Pizey is just one of the thousands of British sailors who will be honoured at events across the country to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Jutland.

Sarah and one of her six grandchildren, William Minshall, 22, will be attending the memorial service on May 28 in South Queensferry Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Cemetery, where 40 casualties from the battle are commemorated or buried.